


The Tale of Bunny Boy and His Winged Rabbit

by definekjd



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daycare, M/M, exo as kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 21:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14756588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definekjd/pseuds/definekjd
Summary: Little Junmyeon is crying because he wants his stuffed bunny. Enter little Yifan—he doesn't have a stuffed bunny, but he will think of a way.





	The Tale of Bunny Boy and His Winged Rabbit

**Author's Note:**

> cut me some slack and imagine phones had wallpapers back in '95.
> 
> dear prompter, i'm sure this isn't exactly what you had in mind, but i hope you like it!
> 
> all the thanks goes to 1. the mods, for being extremely patient, understanding and accommodating to me; and 2. will, partly for betaing this but mostly for being an ever supportive bro.
> 
> (Prompt #62)

 

**September 28, 1995. Thursday.**

Yifan watches as Yixing leaves him alone with his blocks and approaches the boisterous kid with the huge eyes and huge ears and his two tiny, just-as-loud friends.

Yifan squints crossly.

Did Yixing just abandon him and their wooden blocks to play kitchen with the weird bowl cut trio?

Yifan looks down at his half-done castle and Yixing's messy fortress that is littered with plastic dinosaurs. Sure, he can make buildings himself, but alone he can only make so much. Affronted and feeling a little betrayed, he huffs and stands, pointedly looking away from the general direction Yixing has gone to and instead wandering towards the other end of the room.

He spots a ride-on car at the corner. Yifan knows it's the only one that's never in use because it's missing one of its wheels, but it's the only toy Yifan can truly play with alone, so he figures, maybe he can work around that.

Just as Yifan nears the car, though, he notices a small figure crouched behind the car, hidden from view of the sitters and the other daycare kids.

And they're... crying?

"Hey," Yifan tries, approaching the kid cautiously.

The kid looks up—it's a boy, and, oh, his eyes are wet with tears.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. "Hey, stop crying."

The kid doesn't stop. He's crying soundlessly into his own arms, and his face is red, streaked with tears.

"Um," Yifan says, dumbly. He's never seen the boy around here before. He must be new. Yifan shifts, and when the boy doesn't move away, scoots to sit beside him. "I'm Yifan."

The boy looks at him with huge, glassy eyes. He has one of those ugly bowl cut hairstyles, too. It somehow looks kind of nice on him, though. "I want my bunny," the boy chokes out, lips jutted out in a sad pout.

"I don't have a bunny," Yifan says, shaking his head. "What's your name?"

"I want my bunny," the boy murmurs, softer this time. It sounds so sad, Yifan thinks he can feel something clench in his chest, deep inside.

"Did someone take your bunny?"

The boy shakes his head, and his bangs jiggle with the movement. "The bunny at the store. There was a toy bunny at the store I passed by with daddy yesterday."

Oh. This, Yifan gets. There are times his moms would refuse buying him toys, too, but he's learned to understand them. Some things he just can't have. It seems very rare that other kids share his sentiments, though. So Yifan reaches out and pats the boy's soft, soft hair in silent company.

It's a short moment later when Yixing finds him crouched at the corner. "Why did you leave without saying anything?" Yixing demands, but he doesn't sound angry, maybe a little concerned.

"I thought you wanted to play kitchen with the others," Yifan says. Beside him, the boy has stopped crying. There's a string of snot above his lip, and his eyes are curious as he glances between Yixing and Yifan.

"They were trying to cook the dinosaurs!" Yixing tells him, clearly offended. "I need these brave soldiers alive for my fortress," he reasons, then, "I've been looking for you."

Ah, so that's what happened.

"Sorry," Yifan says, standing up. "We can play again."

He remembers the boy still crouched on the floor beside him, but before Yifan can ask him if he'd like to play blocks with them, one of the sitters seems to have noticed the tiny commotion and is approaching them quickly.

"Junmyeon! There you are," she says, crouching low in front of the boy. She extends her hand towards him the same time Yixing takes Yifan by the wrist and pulls him towards their tiny wooden empire. "Can I read you a book?" The boy nods and takes her hand, following her to the other side of the room where a few other kids are spread out on the alphabet mat, flipping through various picture books.

Yifan gets back to his and Yixing's blocks. The arena is now adorned with even more dinosaurs. A velociraptor has a toy cooking knife gripped in one of its hands like a too-big makeshift spear, and two of Yixing's towers are topped with pink plastic plates.

Yifan has lots of fun playing battle with Yixing and his dinosaurs until it's time to go home and they have to tidy the toys up. He's also glad that when he checks on bunny boy from across the room, he's not crying anymore.

 

 

**October 5, 1995. Thursday.**

Yifan's eyes go wide when he sees bunny boy walk into the daycare. He feels like it's been at least a hundred days since he's last seen him. (Of course, Yifan's still so young, so he doesn't actually _know_ just how many a hundred exactly is, but Han has told him that it is _a lot_ , and Yifan trusts Han, because he's _a lot_ older, so it's only natural that he knows about _a lot_ of things.)

"Hi," Yifan says in greeting when the boy walks by.

That catches his attention, instantly stopping in his track and turning to Yifan. He spares a brief glance at Yixing who's busy colouring a poor little diplodocus with a black sharpie—one that Yifan knows Yixing has undoubtedly snatched from one of the sitter's drawers—but his full attention is on Yifan.

"Hi," the boy says.

"Wanna play with us?" Yifan asks.

The boy takes a peek at the assortment of animals Yifan and Yixing have laid out on the ground, and shrugs. "Sure."

"I'm Yifan," Yifan says as the boy plops down on the floor between him and Yixing.

"I _know_ ," the boy says, looking slightly offended, "you've told me that last week."

"Oh," Yifan says. "I don't see you here everyday."

"I only come on Thursdays because I usually stay at either daddy's or mommy's but they're both always busy on Thursdays so that's when I go here," he explains.

Woah, that was a very long sentence. Yifan doesn't think he managed to catch all the details, but he nods to show that he's listening, anyway. "Is today Thursday?"

"Yeah." The boy gives him a brief weird look, but doesn't seem to mind Yifan's lacking grasp of time all that much.

"Oh," Yifan says, again. "What's your name?"

"Kim Junmyeon," the boy says. He's pulled his eyes away from Yifan, instead scanning the array of plastic animals spread on the ground, a tiny frown on his face.

"I'm Yixing!" Yixing chirps from Yifan's other side. Yifan has almost forgotten he's there at all.

Bunny boy—Junmyeon—turns to Yixing. "Yixing, do you have a bunny one?"

Yixing barely looks up from the plastic diplodocus still cradled in his hands. "No." The black ink keeps getting wiped off the surface of the toy, smearing the skin of his palms. Yixing, completely oblivious to that fact, is busy filling in the empty spots that keep on magically reappearing before him. It's a little ridiculous, but Yifan knows better than to wedge himself between Yixing and his questionable antics.

That curt answer seems like all Junmyeon needs to stand and leave, before Yifan can say anything, presumably in search of better toys. Like bunny toys, maybe. Seriously, why don't they have bunny toys? Yifan sees bunnies everywhere—in pet shops, in picture books, on Han's phone wallpaper of this girl Yifan doesn't recognise holding a bunny to her chest—so why is it that the daycare have all sorts of dinosaurs but not _bunnies_?

Yifan watches as Junmyeon quietly pads towards the line of toy cupboards.

He turns to Yixing. "Let me—here, if you stop touching the diplodocus, it will stay black, see?" Yifan tells him, taking the plastic dinosaur from Yixing's dirty hands and placing it on the floor.

"But I can still see some blank spots—"

"That's because you keep on touching it." Yifan takes the sharpie from a bewildered Yixing, and starts colouring on the blank spots. "There," he says, when he's done.

Yixing gasps. "Now it looks _awrrr_ some! I love black dinosaurs!" he exclaims, ever-so-excited.

"Okay. Can I borrow the marker?" Yifan asks, lifting the sharpie to Yixing's line of view.

Yixing nods. "Sure!"

Yifan heaves himself up to stand. "Stay here," he tells Yixing. "I'll be back."

With determined steps, Yifan heads towards the alphabet mat. Once there, he snatches a piece of paper from the mess of papers that one of the bowl cut trio has spread on the mat, and then lies down on his tummy. Yifan pulls the cap off the sharpie and starts drawing.

First, he draws the bunny ears. They're long and take up half the length of the page. And then he draws a huge circle for the face, adding in two dots for the eyes and a curvy line for the mouth. And—oh! The whiskers! How could he forget? So Yifan draws three lines on each of the bunny's cheeks. He then adds another circle below the head for the body, draws a little fluffy cloud for the tail, and finishes his masterpiece with a pair of wings because wings are _so cool_.

Ah- _ha_! Yifan sets the sharpie aside and lifts his masterpiece up, assessing it like a world-class art critic. He takes a long moment to appreciate the thick, bold lines and the many, many shapes. It looks pretty artistic, if Yifan may say so himself.

The moment is broken, though, when one of the bowl cut trio—the one who'd scattered blank sheets of paper everywhere—crawls up to Yifan and peers over his arm. Yifan is dumbstruck at the fearlessness of the bowl cut weirdo, sticking his nose in some random kid's business without a care like that. The boy's droopy eyes scan over Yifan's bunny drawing with one smooth downward sweeping motion of his eyes. He tilts his head to one side, and scans the drawing bottom-up. Then he tilts his head to the _other_ side, and side-eyes Yifan.

And then he giggles. Actually, it's more like a snort, but Yifan isn't self-deprecating like Han. So he keeps his chin high up even as the boy looks away, head turned resolutely, and finally leaves Yifan alone to stare at his art in peace.

Well! If bowl cut weirdo thinks he'll ever succeed in demeaning Yifan and his art, Yifan is going to prove him _wrong_.

He hugs the paper to his chest and looks around the hall. There! Junmyeon is pretty easy to spot in his soft pink sweater. Yifan thinks the colour suits him, and also the pink dollhouse he's playing with. Quickly, he stands and hurries towards Junmyeon and his dollhouse.

Junmyeon doesn't notice Yifan's presence until he's wedging himself between Yifan and the dollhouse, Junmyeon looking up at him with a confused tilt to his brows.

Yifan hands him the paper.

Junmyeon puts the miniature bathtub and piano he's got in his tiny hands down on the floor. "You drew this?"

Yifan pushes the paper to Junmyeon's lap, and plops down in front of him. "It's a bunny," he says. Him sitting down pushes the dollhouse backwards and possibly jostled some of the furniture, but Junmyeon doesn't seem like he noticed at all, eyes trained on Yifan's drawing.

"Bunnies don't have wings," Junmyeon says.

Oh. Um. "But wings are cool," Yifan says, and doesn't know why his words came out so soft. He bites into his lower lip, even if mommy always tells him not to.

Junmyeon watches him. He watches Yifan for what seems like a really long while. And then he shrugs. "I guess," he says, a smile curling into his lips.

Yifan is mesmerized. "You can keep it. I made it for you."

Junmyeon gasps. He pushes past Yifan and pulls the dollhouse over. "Now the house can have a bunny!" he exclaims, placing Yifan's drawing on the floor in front of the open living room and surrounding it with miniature flower pots. Satisfied with the arrangement, he turns to Yifan and beams. It's the brightest, most wonderful smile Yifan has ever seen; his eyes turn into tiny little crescents and his cheeks bulge up like two rosy peaches.

 _Oh_ , Yifan thinks he knows why Junmyeon likes bunnies so much—he looks _absolutely_ like he could be one himself!

"Wanna play house with me?" Junmyeon asks.

Yifan blinks. He looks over his shoulder to where Yixing is hunched over his dinosaurs and their ever powerful joint fortress. "Or," he starts, "you can come and play forts with us."

Junmyeon's eyes widen, like he can't believe it. "You think so?"

"Your house can be a really powerful defense," Yifan says, grazing his fingers over the edges of the dollhouse.

"Are bunnies allowed to be in the field?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Yifan says, already getting to his feet. He doesn't see a reason why they wouldn't be, really.

Yifan helps Junmyeon pull the dollhouse over to his and Yixing's fortress. Yixing welcomes them with a huge dimpled grin and quickly settles to fitting the dollhouse into their line of defense.

"We need all the help we can get," is what Yixing says.

Apparently, it's because the bowl cut trio is attacking. Or, at least, that's what Yixing warns them, as he calls out, _send out the troops!_ and pushes a mess of plastic dinosaurs forward on the floor with his hands, towards the general direction of the bowl cut trio. Except the trio isn't actually attacking. Not at all, in fact—the droopy-eyed one from before is drawing incomprehensible squiggly lines on a piece of paper, and the other two are figuring out why the triangle block won't go in the circle hole.

Of course, Yixing is undeterred, pushing forward with determination and unnecessary sound effects coming out of his own mouth. Yifan would be embarrassed, he briefly thinks, except when he looks to his side, Junmyeon's eyes are sparkling with awe as he crawls forward to join Yixing in battle.

Yifan grins. Let the battle begin!

 

 

**October 9, 1995. Monday.**

Yifan stretches up as far as he can to pull at the door knob. The door clicks open, and he pushes into the room just as the sound of something getting slammed shut echoes throughout. Han's head whips around and when their eyes meet, the shocked look on Han's face relaxes instantly.

"What do you want," Han states, deadpan. His hands are pressed palms down on his closed book. Yifan opens his mouth to answer but Han beats him to it. "For the nth time, it is not Thursday. Now get out of my room."

Yifan pouts. "When _is_ Thursday?"

"Three days from now."

"Will you tell me when Thursday is tomorrow?"

Han seems reluctant, but says, "Fine. I will."

"Promise," Yifan says, staring up at Han with furrowed brows because he knows it makes him look fierce.

"I said I will. Okay?" Han says. "Now leave me alone."

Yifan watches him for a moment. Only when he's sure Han _will_ keep his promise does he let go of his fierce face and decide, "Okay."

Han rolls his eyes exaggeratedly, just to make sure Yifan sees him doing it, and turns back to his book, muttering, "Boogerhead."

Yifan frowns. " _You're_ the boogerhead!" he retaliates, stomping a foot on the ground and voice significantly louder, just because he can.

From the next room, he hears mama gasp soundly. " _Lu Han_!"

 

 

**October 12, 1995. Thursday.**

Yifan furrows his brows in ultimate concentration mode as he divides the white play-doh into three separate bits. The first two he stretches and rolls into an elongated shape, and the last one he shapes into a ball. He attaches the rabbit ears onto the head. And then he scans the remaining play-doh he's got in front of him. Only the green coloured one (with streaks of red and brown play-doh melded into it) is left, the rest of the white play-doh currently being subjected to some weird cooking ritual by the bowl cut trio on the other side of the room.

He sighs, settling with rounding the green play-doh into a ball—the body of the rabbit—and then attaching the head to it. Yifan tilts his head in assessment. Huh. He's not trying to boast or anything, but it looks pretty accurate, and really cute, too. He then snatches the black sharpie that Yixing has yet again stolen from the cabinet to poke a pair of eyes and a tiny smile onto the rabbit's face.

Yifan doesn't realise he's got his tongue peeking out of his mouth until he feels (or, well, tastes) the tip of Yixing's salty finger poke at it. _Yuck_! He sputters and swats at Yixing's intruding hand, glaring at his so-called best friend. Yixing just snorts, like he always does, a dimple winking at Yifan in mischief.

(At least Yixing hadn't just decided to poke at Yifan's precious bunny sculpture. That would have costed him a merciless tickle to the guts, best friend or not.)

After excusing himself from Yixing, Yifan finds Junmyeon playing at the slide with a few other kids. Junmyeon spots him before he arrives, lighting up and peering at the play-doh in Yifan's hands.

"What's that?" he asks, climbing off the slide and pattering over to Yifan.

Junmyeon folds his hands into a makeshift cup, and Yifan hands the bunny over to him.

"It's so cute," Junmyeon coos, petting the white head of the rabbit. "Hey, we should give the bunny a home." He leads them back to the slide and then under, crouching low and crawling until they're both beneath the slide with the bunny play-doh safe and comfy in Junmyeon's cupped hands.

Yifan watches as Junmyeon observes the bunny fondly, his touch gentle as he strokes its green body.

"Thank you," Junmyeon says.

Yifan beams. "You like it?"

"Yeah!" Junmyeon says. "It looks like the white plushie at the store, except this one is both white and green so it's even better!"

Yifan doesn't know why, but seeing Junmyeon smile like this makes him really happy. What he knows, though, is that Junmyeon surely looks better with a smile on his face than streaks of tears covering his cheeks.

Yifan is determined to ensure that Junmyeon stays happy. He already knows that bunnies are Junmyeon's favourite. Now, he just needs to know one thing: how can he get a bunny?

 

 

**October 17, 1995. Tuesday.**

"How can I get bunnies?" Yifan voices out, face in his hands as he stares down at Han's phone on the coffee table.

Han turns his head from where he's been playing PlayStation to where Yifan is lying on the couch beside him. "Hey!" He snatches his phone away. "No snooping, okay?"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Han's eyes widen. "No!" he splutters, and then a bit more softly, "no, she's not." Yifan doesn't tear his gaze from Han, though, looking up at him expectantly, so Han relents, like he always does. "She's just some cute girl from school okay? What do _you_ know?" he says, but the look on his face is shy and his eyes are warm.

So Yifan presses. "Do you love her?" Han starts to splutter again, so Yifan saves him the trouble. "Mama has mommy and ge ge and I as her wallpaper because she loves us."

"It's a different kind of—it's just _different_ , okay?" he defends, and then, when Yifan snickers, hauls him onto his lap. "You little prick!"

Yifan shrieks as Han starts tickling him all over, knowing just where to target to make Yifan crumple in defeat. "No tickling!" warns Yifan, even as he buries himself further into the warmth of his brother's tummy.

And that is how mommy finds them later, curled together on the sofa with Yifan's legs around Han's chest and his head snuggled in the crook of Han's armpit. It's very comfortable. Yifan intends to stay this way until morning, except mommy is urging them to get up because dinner is ready and Han is pushing Yifan off his chest because he's heavy.

"How can I get a bunny?" Yifan asks again as he trails after Han towards the dining table in the kitchen.

"I don't know," Han says. "Maybe when you grow up and buy your own house you can have all the bunnies you want." He heaves Yifan up, dropping him on the dining chair.

"We're getting a bunny?" mama asks from where she's pulling something out of the steamer.

"Can we get bunnies, mama?" Yifan asks, grabbing for his plastic cup. It's purple with golden stars all over it like the beautiful galaxies he dreams of at night.

"No, no, no, _no_ bunnies, honey," mommy says.

"But _why_?" Yifan asks, making grabby hands for the pitcher. Han comes to the rescue, pouring water into Yifan's plastic cup, even as he gives Yifan a look that totally says _see? I told you so._

"Because," mommy says, settling on the dining table across from Yifan, "they're a huge commitment. And we wouldn't want to separate the baby bunnies from their mommy rabbits."

"Oh," Yifan says, deflating a little. Well, he understands. He wouldn't want to be separated from his moms, either. Or from Han, for that matter. That would be awful. "Okay, then! No bunnies."

True to his words, Yifan forgets anything bunny-related for the rest of the night, as he slurps at his noodles and gets soup all over the place.

 

(That night, though, Yifan dreams of afternoon tea with a certain sir bunny where he's served with the most delicious noodles he's ever tasted as they zoom through the endless expanse of space adorned with huge, huge planets and bright, bright stars. It's a bit like that book about Alice and Wonderland, except Yifan's, of course, is _waaay_ cooler.)

 

 

**October 19, 1995. Thursday.**

Yifan trails along as Junmyeon goes through the storybooks on the shelves. He pulls out one with a thick shiny cover and a picture of a rabbit at the front.

It's only a little while after noon—Yifan knows because they'd _just_ finished lunch—but the sky outside is overcast, dark and grey and wonderful for sleeping in. Which is exactly what a majority of the kids are doing right now. (Yixing is passed out on one of the mattresses, a hand gripping onto the orange tail of a t-rex.) Junmyeon doesn't seem sleepy, though, and neither is Yifan, so he follows Junmyeon to one of the huge windows that's dribbling with water down the other side. Junmyeon plops down on the pile of cushions by the window. Yifan follows, getting comfortable beside him.

Junmyeon places the book on the ledge.

"This is Pete," he says, swiping his fingers over the rabbit on the cover. He opens the book, and on the very first page, points to three other rabbits standing beside whom Yifan assumes is Pete. "And these are his sisters who are smart and eat blueberries for lunch like their mommy rabbit told them to."

Yifan shifts closer to get a clearer look of the colourful pictures on the pages.

"Pete is not as smart, though," Junmyeon continues. "He likes to disobey mommy rabbit and eat the vegetables in the garden even if mommy rabbit told him no!" he says, sounding offended.

Yifan frowns. He's learned from experience that disobeying his moms is _not good_ , whatever the circumstance. "Why does he not listen to mommy rabbit?"

"Um, I don't know," says Junmyeon, shrugging. He flips to the next page. The pictures here are more colourful than the previous ones, with lots of vibrant vegetables filling up the page. Yifan is in awe. "But, anyways, Pete went to the garden and ate the vegetables and was chased by the mean vegetable grandpa."

"The mean vegetable grandpa?" Yifan asks.

"Yeah!" is all Junmyeon says, instead of explaining who said grandpa is as Yifan was kind of hoping him to. "If only he had listened to mommy rabbit, right?" He shakes his head and tuts in disapproval. "I wish my parents were more like mommy rabbit. I've always told them that eating vegetables could cost me my _life_ , but they never listened."

Junmyeon is about to flip to the next page again, but Yifan stops him. "But vegetables are good for you. They have vitamins and you eat them so you don't fall sick."

Surprisingly, Junmyeon doesn't object. "Yeah," he says. "But that doesn't stop the mean vegetable grandpa from catching me eat vegetables and turning me into a pie!" he exclaims, brows furrowed at Yifan.

Yifan gasps. "A _pie_?"

"A pie!" Junmyeon flips the pages several times until they reach a picture of whom Yifan assumes is the mean vegetable grandpa chasing after Pete with a rake. "See? He's trying to catch Pete so he can turn him into a pie and have him for dinner!"

Yifan gasps again. That is the meanest thing he has ever heard.

And then Junmyeon closes the book. The front cover picture of a smiling Pete greets them again. "When I grow up," Junmyeon tells him, "I will buy an island and then all the bunnies in the world can live there and be free. There will be no mean vegetable grandpa, or pet stores, or tiny cages. All the bunnies in the world can live there and be happy forever."

Yifan watches as Junmyeon looks at him with an ambitious smile on his face. Junmyeon lifts his hands, placing them atop his head like a pair of bunny ears. His eyes sparkle like stars. Yifan has absolutely no doubt. He's sure Junmyeon can do exactly that.

 

It's late when Han comes to pick Yifan up from the daycare; only two other kids are still waiting to be picked up. But Yifan understands—the exam period is nearing, and Han has been busy with extra lessons at school. Han's backpack is getting heavier and heavier each day, so Yifan has learned to carry his own backpack himself.

He dashes towards Han, backpack bouncing on his shoulders, and clings to his brother's long legs.

"Hey, buddy," Han greets him, fingers roughly ruffling Yifan's hair.

One of the sitters approaches them. She hands Han Yifan's coat, and Han peels Yifan off his legs, crouching down to put the coat on for him.

"Sorry, I've been busy with class," he says as Yifan shrugs his backpack off obediently. "I'll try to come earlier tomorrow."

"It's fine," the sitter says, shrugging. "Oh, we're having a Halloween themed day next Thursday, so if you can help Yifan find a costume for that, that would be awesome."

Han zips the coat up and helps Yifan put his backpack back on. "Oh?" He retrieves Yifan's boots from the shoe rack. "But isn't Halloween, like, the week after?"

Yifan holds onto Han's shoulders and wiggles his feet into his boots.

"Well, one of the kids only comes every Thursday and he _really_ wants to be here for the Halloween themed day, so we kind of moved it forward."

"Oh," Han says, "that's great!" He gets to his feet. "I'll see to it."

"Awesome!" the sitter says. A couple of parents come in to fetch one of the remaining kids. "All the best for your exams!"

"Thanks!" Han takes Yifan's hand in his, and they walk hand-in-hand out of the daycare.

 

("Ge ge," Yifan says, swinging his legs in the air and huddling closer to Han's side as they sit at the bus stop.

Han hums in reply. He has his nose buried in one of his notebooks, the one with the circles and cubes and weird symbols he calls maths.

"Is the mean vegetable grandpa real?"

"The what?" Han asks, finally turning to him.

"The mean vegetable grandpa who turned rabbit Pete into a pie because he ate vegetables from the garden."

Han blinks. It takes him a while, but when he gets it, he laughs. "You mean _Peter_?"

"So the mean vegetable grandpa is real?" Yifan repeats.

"No," Han says. "No, he's not."

"So the rabbit is lying?"

Han seems to ponder at that, looking down at Yifan. One end of his mouth curls, eyes twinkling entertainedly. "Well, yes and no," he decides. "There is no proof showing that the old man is real, so the general agreement is that he's not." From down the road, a bus approaches. Han gets up, folds his notebook and tucks it into the huge pocket of his coat, takes out his wallet, and heaves Yifan off the bench. "But there is no proof showing that he _isn't_ real, either."

The door slides open, and Yifan hops up, Han following close behind. Han drops his coins on the tray and Yifan picks a seat in the middle row. "So if I eat my vegetables, will the mean vegetable grandpa come and make me into a pie for dinner?" he asks as Han slips into the seat beside him.

Han shifts his backpack onto his lap. "Not as long as you stay away from his garden. Mama gets her vegetables from the farmers' market. We'll be safe alright."

Han proceeds to list the many benefits of eating vegetables and why Yifan shouldn't be choosy with his food. Yifan tunes him out. For the rest of the way home, he thinks of a bunny kingdom where all the bunnies are happy and dinner of rice and dumplings and vegetables that's waiting for him and Han at home.)

 

 

**October 21, 1995. Saturday.**

When Han offered to bring him to a costume store downtown, Yifan had thought it was purely because their moms had chores to do. As it turns out, Han has a personal reason to visit the store himself because Yifan recognizes the person behind the counter—it's the girl on Han's wallpaper!

"Take your time, alright? I'll be here if you need me," Han says as the door closes behind them and he fixes Yifan's askew Batman cap on his head.

Oh, well. Yifan leaves Han by the door and heads towards the left side of the store. Han _has_ brought him to the costume store, after all. He deserves to hang around the counter by the least.

Yifan reaches up to get a better look of each of the displayed outfit. He shifts through the hanged costumes—and boy are they the best things he has ever seen! There's a couple of Captain Tsubasa's uniforms, and there's even those awesome fighter outfits Yifan sees in Han's comic books. Yifan ponders. He would totally be Krillin or Goku for a day, but the clothes seem quite a few sizes too big on him. The Detective Conan suit seems to be Yifan's size, but he passes—it's not his style.

He reaches the end of the aisle, makes a turn, and gasps at the sight in front of him.

_A Gundam costume!!!_

Yifan presses himself against the display glass, scanning the Gundam up and down. It looks so _real_. Yifan wishes Yixing was here to see it with him. It's officially the coolest thing ever!

Too bad, though, Yifan has to peel himself off the glass and continue his search for a Halloween costume. The middle aisle seems reserved for scary occasions, like those horror movies Han shrieks ungracefully at. Yifan moves on to the last aisle. Ah, this is better. He starts shifting through the colourful array of animal costumes.

A cat... a tiger... a bear... a penguin...

Yifan's eyes widen.

"Ge ge!" he calls out, fingers tightening into the onesie in his grip.

Han strides over after a moment, and Yifan pulls him towards the bunny costume. It's white with a pink tummy and pink ears and _so perfect_. It even has a small version!

"Does this fit me?" Yifan asks, jabbing at the small bunny costume.

Han takes the hanger off the rack. Yifan turns around, letting Han measure the outfit on his back.

"It's a _li_ ttle big, but it'll fit," Han decides. Yifan can't get Junmyeon a bunny plushie, but he sure can be one. "So you wanna get this one?"

"Yeah!" Yifan says, already heading for the counter at the front.

From up-close with the counter blocking his view, Yifan can't really see the cashier girl. He can see Han's face, though, and the shy smile that he sports as he hands the girl Yifan's bunny costume.

"That'll be 20,000 won," the girl says.

Han hands her the money mama gave him before they left earlier. He then reaches up to rub at his neck, the tip of his ears blushing an awful red. The cash register dings. "So, about that movie..."

The girl bags the bunny costume, placing it on the counter, and peers over the counter down at Yifan. "That your brother?" she asks.

Yifan blinks up at her.

Han falters. "Yeah, uh—"

"You two don't look alike," she says.

Han visibly stiffens. Yifan pulls the bag down. Han catches it before the content topples over, and Yifan hugs the bag to his chest.

"He's my stepbrother," Han tells the girl. The smile on his face changes. It's less shy now, a little forced.

Yifan shifts closer to Han.

The girl snorts. "Oh."

And then the smile leaves Han's face entirely. The girl hands him the change. Han still doesn't smile. He doesn't even say 'thank you,' which is weird because Han _always_ says 'thank you.'

He only takes the bag from Yifan and heads for the door.

 

"Is she your girlfriend now?" Yifan asks as they step onto the sidewalk and the door of the store swings shut behind them.

"No." Han's answer is curt, but he reaches down to take Yifan's hand in his bigger one, so Yifan knows Han is upset, but not at Yifan.

They reach the zebra crossing and Han lets Yifan press the button. "Why is that?" he asks, squinting up at Han from under the brim of his hat.

Han looks down at him, exhaling softly. "Because she was rude."

"Oh." The sign blinks green and, hand-in-hand, they cross the road.

But just as they reach the end of the crossing, a sudden gust of wind blows past, and Yifan jolts as he practically feels his cap being pulled away from him by ten very powerful invisible hands.

"My hat!" he shouts, alerting Han and pulling him towards his hat that's swoshing in the wind, away from them.

"Shit," mutters Han—he's lucky their moms aren't here to scold him because that was one of the Forbidden Curse Words alright—and pulls Yifan along as he runs for the hat.

The hat lands on the sidewalk, some steps away from them, and Han gets to it a beat too late.

"This his?" asks the guy who's plucked Yifan's hat off the ground. He brushes the bottom clean with the back of his hand.

"That is mine, yes," Yifan answers for Han.

The guy beams. "Here you go," he says, fitting the hat on Yifan's head. He fits it on quite nicely, unlike Han who usually tries to tuck the entire section of Yifan's fringe backwards so it stays in the hat.

Han's grip on Yifan's hand tightens. "What do you say to him?"

Yifan pauses to think. "Oh! Thank you," he tells the guy, sincerely.

Again, the guy beams. He has a really nice smile, kind of like a hamster. Yifan looks at Han. He's being strangely quiet. Wait, the look on his face looks awfully familiar... oh!

"Is this the part where you change your phone wallpaper to the cute guy who fetched my hat?" Yifan asks Han.

In less than a flash, Han has Yifan's mouth covered with his hands; Yifan knows Han has quick reflexes because their moms bring him to watch Han's soccer matches every other month, but _this_ seems more like superhuman speed to him. Shifting on his feet, Han laughs nervously. Across from them, the guy just looks amused.

"You think so?" he asks Yifan, crouching down so they're at eye level. "What's your name?"

"Yifan," Yifan says. He pulls away from Han's grip and outstretches his hand for a handshake.

The guy takes Yifan's hand, smiling kindly. "I'm Minseok. You have a cool hat."

"Thanks." Yifan likes him already.

"So you think I'm worthy enough to be your brother's phone wallpaper?" asks Minseok.

"Uh huh," says Yifan. "Now he has this girl as his wallpaper but she was rude to him."

That makes Minseok frown. "Well, that's awful. I'm sure he deserves better." He looks up at Han. "I can be better," he says, dusting his clothed knees off as he stands. And then he turns a bit sheepish, covering his bright grin with the back of his hand. "I mean, if you want to, I—" He shoves his hands in his pockets, turning confident again. "I'm Minseok," he says, smiling up at Han. "Can I have your phone number in exchange for my picture?"

A group of people walks past them, and Yifan holds onto Han's pinky so he doesn't get swept along, just in case. He glances at Han's face and doesn't miss the way the blush spreads from Han's ears to his cheekbones, turning his face as red as the cherries they got from grandpa the last time he visited.

And then Yifan is tearing his gaze away from Han and Minseok, tuning their conversation out.

He watches as a particularly cool-looking car zooms past, and thinks that he really, _really_ can't wait for Thursday to come.

 

 

**October 26, 1995. Thursday.**

Mommy's work doesn't start until a bit later today so when Yifan is dropped off at the daycare, all the kids have already gathered, everyone dressed in various costumes and making the daycare look like one of those magical places in Yifan's fantasy storybooks. There are some dressed as superhero characters, vampires and princesses, and someone even came dressed as a pumpkin. It's all sorts of wonderful!

After he bids mommy goodbye, Yifan scans the area for his friends. Quite easily, he spots a conspicuous green fir adorned with red baubles and a golden star at the top.

"Yixing!" Yifan calls out, skipping over to his friend.

"Yifan!" Yixing calls back, returning Yifan's outstretched fist with a bump of his knuckles.

The noise seems to attract other kids, especially the judgmental droopy-eyed boy who bounces over, quickly followed by the rest of the bowl cut trio. They're all dressed in matching piglet onesies, and soon enough, the three bowl cut piglets are hovering over Yixing, poking at his baubles and golden star.

The droopy-eyed one throws himself at a perplexed Yixing. "I love trees," he confesses, sighing into Yixing's shoulder.

The smallest one doesn't share the same sentiment. "Ew, I _hate_ broccoli," he scowls, missing tooth showing from under the curl of his lips.

Yixing gasps, visibly offended. "I am a tree!" he corrects, stomping his foot. It jostles droopy-eyed boy, but only makes him tighten his grip around Yixing's back, clinging onto him some more.

The tallest one joins in. "Why are you a Christmas tree on Halloween?"

It sounds like a purely genuine question to Yifan, except Yixing is not having it. Instead, he proudly counterattacks, "At least I'm not the one about to be eaten by the big bad wolf!"

At the remark, the bowl cut trio gasps in unison. Yifan, the greatest sidekick ever, jumps in and roars at the three piglets, making them jump back in surprise. Triumphant, Yixing and Yifan double over with laughter.

The smaller two of the trio are pouting when Yifan looks over, but the taller one with the huge ears and huge eyes is quick to recover, crawling over to Yixing in a flash. "Holy cows, you have _dimples_!" he announces a little too loudly, shoving his face into Yixing's personal space as Yixing tries to swat the boy's grabby hands off his cheeks. "I have dimples, too! See?" the boy says, grinning and turning his head to one side so Yixing can get an up-close and personal view of the dent in his left cheek.

Yifan knows, that as Yixing's trusty sidekick, he should be helping free him from the attack—but as a _friend_ , Yifan is glad to sit back and watch as the bowl cut trio starts crowding in on Yixing again, coaxing him into playful banter.

"Yifan," calls out from behind him, and Yifan turns to find Junmyeon in an all-white costume. Before Yifan can assess what he's dressed up as, though, Junmyeon is squealing, "You're a _bunny_!" and wrapping his arms around Yifan in a tight, crushing hug. "This is so great _you_ are the fluffiest bunny I've ever seen!" he screams, voice muffled into Yifan's hoodie.

Yifan feels warm and happy all over. He's so glad Junmyeon likes the bunny onesie! "And you're a..." he pulls away to get a better look of Junmyeon. He's dressed in a white dress shirt tucked into a white tutu skirt, along with a pair of adorable white wings attached to his back.

"I'm an angel!" Junmyeon announces excitedly. He twirls around, flaunting the bouncy tutu around his hip. Yifan claps. Junmyeon beams. And then he stops, and assesses Yifan. "Hold on a sec," he tells him. Quietly, despite the commotion around him that is mostly Yixing and the bowl cut trio, Yifan waits and watches as Junmyeon takes the wings off his back and brandishes it at Yifan. "You should wear it!" he says.

Yifan blinks. "Me?"

"Yeah!" Junmyeon declares. He doesn't wait for Yifan to move, just turning Yifan here and there and manhandling his arms into the ribbons until the wings are resting properly on Yifan's back, spanning out of his shoulder blades.

 _Woah_.

Junmyeon seems to think the same, as he stares wide-eyed at Yifan and the pair of wings protruding out of his back, mouth ajar in a wide grin. There it is again—the two rosy peaches on Junmyeon's cheeks. "It's the winged bunny you drew for me," Junmyeon says, visibly mesmerized. Yifan doesn't blame him. He's entranced himself; his drawing has come alive!

"Woah!" someone exclaims from behind Yifan. It's the boy with the missing tooth which is especially visible now, what with how wide open his mouth is. "Just like pterosaurs!"

"You know the pterosaurs?" Yixing pipes up.

"They're the coolest ever!" the boy declares.

"T. rex are cooler!" Yixing says.

The boy isn't deterred. "Yeah, but pterosaurs have _wings_."

Yifan leaves the two be. He turns to the side and realizes belatedly that Junmyeon has pulled the dollhouse along with him when he was approaching them. Junmyeon plops on the floor, legs folded neatly under his tutu, and Yifan follows, easily taking the space beside him.

The boy with the droopy eyes is still clinging onto Yixing's back, and the one with the huge ears and huge everything is watching with rapt attention as Yixing and missing tooth boy engage in a dinosaur roaring and hooting contest of sorts. It's all very interesting, and Yifan is exuberant as he reinforces his and Junmyeon's unbeatable pink fortress with various cooking toys and imagines that the wailing Christmas tree and the three ferocious boars are their undefeatable army.

"Charge!" Yifan declares, thrusting his fist high up into the air, and feels unconditionally happy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> pterosaurs are actually not dinosaurs. yixing and jongdae will learn about that when they're older.
> 
> i asked friends and family to draw me a [bunny](https://image.ibb.co/cZOHvd/Bunnies.jpg) and used those as rough references for yifan's drawing.


End file.
